Chapter 120: How about calling you An’an
People can not escape from doing wrong.
This profound saying seems to hinder part of humanity’s beautiful vision for the future. These reformers can no longer fully entrust moral qualities to education, which is also unequal.
If human intervention could allow people to become as kind as possible—from a neural level, from a genetic level—eliminating the causes of crime and mutual harm in this world, only then could this wretched world, this world facing great trials, be beautifully reborn.
For this, they can and must sacrifice some people, who become the cornerstone of technological research, the pioneers who step ahead of all humanity.
Those extreme, almost perverse experiments were only implemented on such a large scale by past invaders and colonizers who were anti-human.
Is there much difference between An Wujiu and those people who, in wartime, were injected with bacteria and viruses, had their limbs frozen and then scalded with boiling water, were dissected alive, or forced to undergo limb exchange surgeries?
From ten to twenty years old, half of his life was spent in endless pain and surveillance. Under their experiments to purify his soul, his brain was also destroyed, and the evil in his humanity shrank with each punishment.
Suppress, suppress, suppress.
He could not have any bad thoughts.
This is the new human they crave. As long as he survives, as long as he becomes world-renowned, this technology can be promoted.
They don’t need to build a new utopia; as long as they eliminate the evil in humanity, the utopia will return to this planet.
In the heavy snow, Shen Ti held An Wujiu in his arms. He wanted to hide him in his cloak, shielding him from all the painful things.
He didn’t want An Wujiu to remember any past experiences, even though he knew this was impossible.
“If you don’t like this name, I won’t call you Wujiu anymore.”
An Wujiu leaned his forehead on Shen Ti’s shoulder and chuckled softly, “I’m used to it. It doesn’t make me uncomfortable to call me that.”
Shen Ti seemed to ignore his words, choosing nicknames on his own, “Dear… baby…”
“Stop.” An Wujiu lifted his head, looking at Shen Ti with a helpless expression, “None of those are good. I can’t stand it.”
Shen Ti suddenly laughed, his red earrings swaying and making a crisp sound that matched well with the snowy ground.
“Then how about An’an?” He grabbed An Wujiu’s hand and shook it.
An Wujiu was stunned for a moment.
“An’an.” Shen Ti called him again, “Your dad and mom should have called you that too.”
A strange feeling arose in An Wujiu’s heart. He averted his eyes, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, only changing the subject, “They’ve gone so far ahead. Let’s hurry over.”
“Then I’ll take your silence as agreement.” Shen Ti lazily walked behind, holding his hand.
The cold wind cut like a soft knife on their faces. An Wujiu walked towards the large crowd, trying to empty his mind.
After remembering those things, a crazy thought sprouted in his heart—a dark undercurrent. He wanted to resist; he wanted to kill those who treated him as a tool—kill the mastermind who pushed his fate into the abyss.
But An Wujiu knew very well that he couldn’t do it.
These dark thoughts were rebounds from repression. He knew the cult wanted him to go mad and wanted his extreme emotions after killing to be their nourishment.
Thinking of this, An Wujiu calmed down.
He couldn’t be used forever.
Wu You saw people in front still distributing those pieces of bark paper. This thing looked very precious, so he specifically asked the person distributing them.
“Who wrote these?”
The person was respectful but spoke sternly, “Lord Priest, although your status is noble, before the will of God, you are equal to all the citizens. This was personally written by the oldest elder in the city at the request of the High Priest to spread God’s teachings to every citizen’s heart.”
Wu You felt something was off. If it were just ordinary game props, there shouldn’t be deliberately left blanks, as if reminding them there were missing clues.
He was about to ask a new question when he suddenly heard a voice from behind, catching up with them. It was An Wujiu.
“Where does this elder live now?”
The person pointed to the city, “The house with a red roof and red walls in the west is his residence.”
An Wujiu thanked him and watched the person leave. In the distance, some people were pushing large barrels of wine on wooden carts, and everyone held stone cups, with light brown wine flowing into them under the snowy light.
“This wine looks terrible,” Wu You commented from a distance.
Shen Ti asked unceremoniously, “Have you ever drunk wine, little kid?”
Wu You didn’t turn his head, making an international friendly gesture to Shen Ti behind him.
Nan Shan observed the expressions of those drinking the wine. Everyone seemed happy and fulfilled, their faces glowing red.
But he found it strange. He tilted his head and saw An Wujiu also frowning.
“You think there’s a problem too?”
An Wujiu nodded, “From the first day, the citizens reminded us about the festival. Today is the third day, the day of the festival. They told us so early, I thought there would be tasks for us to complete, like collecting items and holding the festival, but so far, we’ve only been participants and spectators.
Shen Ti interjected, “Back then, Yasia’s husband specifically mentioned that the leader would bring back food. Today, he did bring some, but it doesn’t seem like a lot. This place isn’t suffering from famine, so mentioning it specifically is unlikely to be insignificant. It looks like the Holy Altar wants us to experience the problem firsthand, and it’s up to us to understand it.”
This was also what An Wujiu thought. As Yasia was mentioned, he happened to see her. She was wearing a cream-colored headscarf, standing in front of her husband, drinking. At the same time, she turned around and saw An Wujiu and Shen Ti.
As expected, Yasia warmly came to see them, holding a wine glass and inviting them to drink together, but An Wujiu declined.
“Priest, how is the obsidian knife from last time?” she asked respectfully, “Does it suit you?”
Thinking of that knife, the bloody scene of the dusk ritual flashed before An Wujiu’s eyes.
“It suits me,” Shen Ti answered, his eyes fixed on Yasia’s face, “It’s just that I’m not used to hosting sacrifices for so long. Human chest cavities are really hard to open.”
He spoke of horrifying things in a relaxed tone, but Yasia didn’t find it frightening. Instead, she thought Shen Ti was being modest. “How could that be? Priest, you are most skilled with the human body. You’ve sacrificed so many hearts; you’re too modest.”
Wu You felt a wave of nausea. “Why the heart?”
Yasia was a bit surprised, widening her eyes to look at him, but she still respectfully answered, treating this question as a test. “Because each of our hearts is given by the gods, it is the dwelling of the soul and a fragment of the sun’s light and heat. Without the gods, our hearts wouldn’t beat. It is the gods who gave us life. To offer one’s heart as a sacrifice to the gods is the highest honor!”
These were evidently beliefs instilled by religion. Just by looking at her expression and her slightly bowed posture, it was clear that Yasia, like all the citizens, was extremely devout.
“You’re absolutely right,” Shen Ti said with a smile. Only then did Yasia raise her head, showing a relieved expression.
The citizens, having drunk the wine, became increasingly excited, dancing strange dances around the stone statues of various sizes.
An Wujiu saw Noah and Zhou Yijue, who were walking ahead, also being pulled by enthusiastic citizens to the bonfire and statues. He wanted to step forward to stop them, but another group of citizens ran towards them, trying to take them to join the celebration.
They tried to refuse, but two strong young men directly lifted Wu You.
“Let go of me!”
Nan Shan almost fought back but was stopped by Shen Ti, “They won’t do anything. Just follow along.”
Indeed, they put Wu You down in front of the bonfire and pulled him into the dance.
“Sorry,” Nan Shan said softly, “I was too impulsive.”
“It’s nothing.” Shen Ti pretended to dance with them, his eyes on An Wujiu. He said to Nan Shan, “If they had laid a hand on An Wujiu, they probably wouldn’t be dancing here now.”
Nan Shan, looking at Shen Ti’s profile, suddenly remembered that he was also a very dangerous person, just usually disguised as unreliable like himself.
The leader stood on the steps in front of the temple, looking at the vast crowd of citizens below. He raised the stone axe in his hand and shouted in an ancient language.
Due to the Holy Altar, the players could understand directly.
“Raise your wine cups!”
The citizens responded to the leader’s call, raising their cups high.
“The Crown of Glory has ended. All the dead warriors are of the highest honor; their souls are now with the Sun God!”
The citizens drank the wine in their cups in one gulp, shouting in unison, “Souls with the Sun God!”
The leader looked up at the sky and said, “Sun God, please grant us light and heat, dispel the disaster of the blood moon, let the ice and snow melt, and the earth return to spring. We will offer the spoils of the Crown of Glory and ourselves!”
An Wujiu stood quietly below, listening.
The Crown of Glory?
It sounded beautiful, but it seemed to refer to some kind of war.
“Rain God, we implore you to stop your punishment.” The leader poured a cup of wine onto the snow, “This time, we will offer several times more sacrifices than last time. Please forgive the citizens of Water City and let the snow and ice stop falling!”
The leader prayed devoutly. An Wujiu felt something was about to be revealed when suddenly some guards appeared behind them, grabbing their arms.
“Priests, please go to the Tower of God to pray and select tonight’s sacrificial candidates!”
So suddenly?
As soon as the leader finished speaking, the guards took all eight priests away. It was more of a coercion than an invitation.
The so-called Tower of God was the stone tower where the High Priest resided. Dozens of guards escorted them there and closed the door.
The stone door closed with a rumble, and the eight people looked at each other.
“Why did they suddenly bring us here?” Megan asked, puzzled, “Are we supposed to discuss here today?”
“Let’s go upstairs first,” Zhou Yijue suggested, taking the lead. The others followed him up the spiral staircase. As they climbed, An Wujiu glanced out the window. He originally wanted to see if the guards were still there, but instead, he saw the house with the red roof and red walls that the bark paper distributor had mentioned. It wasn’t far from this tower.
They could still hear the revelry outside, singing and dancing, while they could only enter the circular room on the second floor, waiting for the holy voice to appear.
“Good afternoon, everyone.”
The holy voice arrived as expected.
Numbers appeared on the ground in response, from 1 to 12, arranged in a circle.
“Please stand behind the corresponding numbers and prepare to begin the morning sacrificial speech.”
An Wujiu silently walked to number 1. He had some thoughts about this city being eroded by religious beliefs and their rituals.
He thought of the paintings on the temple ceiling, the distant “screams,” Yasia and her husband’s words, the constantly traveling leader, the woman who suddenly appeared in the snow, and the Crown of Glory mentioned by the leader.
The various bizarre aspects of this instance floated to the surface of An Wujiu’s mind at this moment, and his thoughts gradually became clearer.
Megan still didn’t understand. “Why did they bring us here?” She frowned. “Weren’t we always in the temple before?”
The holy voice did not answer her question, but An Wujiu thought he might have guessed the answer.
Not letting them into the temple was likely because the pyramid-shaped temple had another purpose at this moment.
For instance, sacrifices.
“Before we start the speeches, let me announce last night’s death toll.”
The Holy Voice paused.
During this break, An Wujiu looked at Zhou Yijue. He appeared very calm, even smiling, his sly fox-like eyes narrowing.
“The player who died last night is player number 4, Zhou Yijue. No last words.”
As soon as the Holy Voice finished speaking, Zhou Yijue collapsed, blood spreading from his mouth, nose, and chest, gradually staining the entire floor.
“Now, the middle priest will designate the speaking order, starting from the left or right of the deceased.”
An Wujiu pointed to the right.
The first to speak was Megan. She was already known to be a wolf and knew that everyone would vote her out this time, so she was actually calmer than usual today.
“Zhou Yijue is dead. I’m not surprised because he was the only one who came forward to correct our perspective as the gravekeeper. The witch is no longer here, so he was definitely going to die.”
“I think it’s getting hard for the good guys to win now,” she said, looking at the others. “Well… only the hunter remains. The hunter shouldn’t reveal themselves easily; there are probably two wolves left. If the hunter comes out, the game will be over.”
She didn’t say much but deliberately glanced at Shen Ti.
“Done.”
Next to speak was Nan Shan.
“Today’s sacrifice must be Megan,” he said lightly. “Megan was identified as a wolf by the seer on the first night, so voting for her is definitely the right choice. The hunter indeed shouldn’t come out, and the situation is already clear. There’s no need for another god to reveal themselves; it would only hand the knife to the wolves. Today, I will vote for Megan. Done.”
He spoke briefly but clearly.
An Wujiu looked at Shen Ti.
Shen Ti was as usual, lazy and unserious. Instead of speaking directly, he smiled at Megan.
“Come on, there’s nothing left to say for a wolf who’s been identified. At this point, you’re still trying to talk your way out.” His captivating green eyes smiled at Megan. “It’s unnecessary. Today, we can only vote for you.”
After he finished speaking, he leaned leisurely against the wall, looking like he was deep in thought, rubbing his chin. “Hmm… let me think.”
“Wait a minute,” Shen Ti looked up. “Actually, it doesn’t matter who we vote for.”
“How about voting for me?” He pointed at himself, his eyes bright as he looked at everyone.
Everyone was momentarily confused by him.
“Vote for me.”
Shen Ti raised both hands in a surrendering gesture with a smile.
“No more pretending. I’ll come clean. I’m the gargoyle.”
Wu You’s eyes widened.
What?
Nan Shan wasn’t surprised because he had felt something was off with Shen Ti’s speeches from the first day.
Shen Ti continued, tilting his head, “Actually, it’s still better to vote for Megan. Once she’s gone, I can kill someone tonight. It’s a rare chance to be a villain, and not being able to kill for the first few nights was really disappointing.”
Shen Ti frowned, completely disregarding the good guys in the game, openly discussing with the other revealed wolf. “Anyway, I’ve been identified. The last god is player number 11. I listened to what he said yesterday, and it didn’t sound like a villager at all. Sure enough, I got it right.”
“I’ve been hinting since the first round, all the way to yesterday. You picked up on it, which is pretty good. I was worried you’d kill me at night, which would have been a waste of my gargoyle role. Vote for me, then kill number 11 tonight, and the game ends, or you can self-destruct and enter the night. I’ll kill him.”
Shen Ti smiled at Megan.
“It’s all up to you. How about it?”
